Page 99 of If I Go Down with This Ship

I clear my throat, fully aware of the blush creeping up my neck and coloring my cheeks.“Good point.Feel free to make yourself at home while I brew some.”

I watch him in my periphery as I work, my hands shaking as I pour ground beans and then some boiling water into my French press.He carefully maneuvers around the living room on his crutches and glances at the papers on the table, grinning as he flips through them before he shuffles on.He admires the bookshelves in my small writing nook, the mismatched books haphazardly stacked on the shelves, before he stops at the balcony.

He opens the double doors and disappears outside, a cool night breeze flitting in, the sound of heavy rain filling the flat.

I let the coffee steep for a few minutes before I press it down and pour two cups.I stop in the bedroom, two mugs balanced in my hands, admiring his silhouette as the city lights dance against a brooding sky.How many times have I pictured this exact moment?How many times have I imagined him here with me?

Clearing my throat, I cross to him, settling on the chair next to his before handing over the coffee.I watch as he brings the mug to his nose and inhales, briefly closing his eyes.

“You really do love coffee, don’t you?”

He grins, cradling it between his palms.“It’s one of my favorite things from this time of yours.”He glances at me.“Go on, I know you’re curious.”

I set aside my mug, struggling to find the words.“How long have you been here?”

“Four months, give or take.”

“And how did you… you know?”

Silas swallows hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he taps the side of his mug.

“You don’t have to tell me if you’re not comfortable,” I rush to say.

He shakes his head.“I want to tell you.If not you… then who?”He hesitates.“It was the knife.”

“So you…”

“I didn’t have a lot of time to make the cleanest cut.The water was to my chin when I finally pulled myself free.I tried to make my way to my cabin, but the lower deck was already flooded.”

I frown.“So you couldn’t reach the other coat.”

Silas takes a sip of coffee, his features relaxing.“I never did check if there was another coat, if it was hanging in my cabin all this time.I think I’ll always wonder if this coat was actually mine, if it led you to me.”He smiles wryly.“No, when I tried to get to my cabin, I thought I was dead.I did all that only to sink in the harbor, as was my fate.And then, as if yanked to the surface by magic, that old shirt of yours appeared.I pulled it on, and in the blink of an eye, I was… well, not sinking, that’s for sure.”

“Did you keep it?”I ask when he doesn’t go on.“The sweater.”

Silas laughs, a full, boisterous laugh, and oh, how I’ve missed the sound of it.“Of course I didn’t keep it.Laszlo, that thing reeked something foul.”

“I can’t help but feel that’s a jab about me keeping your coat.”

He tilts his head toward me.“It’s nothing to be ashamed of.You missed me.”He looks out at the street.“I was found passed out aboard a ship that looked both very similar toShe Deceitful, and nothing like it.”

“Ah, you met George, then.”

“Nice fellow.A bit perplexed why a bloody pirate appeared ’board his ship, though.He called one of those wailing vehicles for me, and I’ve been healing since.”

I swivel toward him, and he sets aside his coffee, letting me take his hands in mine.I run my thumb over his paw print ring, marveling at the fact that he’shere, on my balcony beside me, in my time.

“How’d you find me?How did you know I was going to be at the event tonight?”

He searches my face.“I spent months looking for you, Laszlo.I gave them your name, but I didn’t know your family name.No one could help me.Not until today, anyway.I was walking down the street, searching a new area, when I saw a poster with your face on it.”

To think, I almost didn’t go tonight.

“So,” I start, “what now?”

Silas grins.“In this world of yours, I think anything’s possible.”

EPILOGUESmooth Sailing